In 1000 days on the London 2012 website

London 2012 have been celebrating the fact that there is now just 1000 days to go until the start of the 2012 Olympics. They’ve been asking on twitter and their website what people want to achieve in the next 1000 days.

For us, we’ve got a number of roles to play in staging the Olympics, and we’re involved in quite a few projects which have London 2012 as the catalyst.

The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence is one, developed to help athletes succeed at the highest level. Originally developed with the intention of seeing athletes succeed at London 2012, we were obviously delighted to see nine AASE athletes compete in the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics , including double gold medalist Rebecca Adlington.

While it is great to help athletes in their quest for success over the next 1000 days, we also want the sector as a whole to be a success in line with our vision: More People, Better Skilled, Better Qualified. Some of the other projects we’re involved with will certainly help us in meeting that challenge.

With the news that more than five million people are currently participating in London 2012 Games-related projects, initiatives such as Personal Best certainly help get more people better skilled and better qualified.

Personal Best is the national pre-employment training programme, which uses the prospect of being a volunteer at London 2012 to engage workless and socially excluded people with education and help them gain skills, lift their aspirations and open up new life and career opportunities.

Recruit into Coaching is another project we’re involved in which will provide more people, better skilled and better qualified. We aid Sport England in delivering the Recruit into Coaching programme, which aims to recruit, train and deploy 10,000 new volunteers by 2011, greatly increasing our volunteer coaching workforce and directly increasing the sporting activity in both school and community settings.

Sport England have recently produced the following case study looking at the impact of the programme on participants and how these coaches can then go on to help others through sport.

So what do you want to achieve in 1000 days? Let us know through comments below and let London 2012 know through their website or by using the twitter hashtag #in1000days.

Today, as part of my day as an apprentice at SkillsActive, I went and saw the Olympic and Paralympic Heroes Parade which was an amazing, breathtaking experience. The atmosphere was ecstatic as everyone in Trafalgar Square was wating for the heroes of Beijing to appear, and as they appeared they were waving and smiling at the fans.  The support for  Team GB was fantastic, flags were being waved and chants were being shouted, with school kids chanting ’Rebecca Adlington’ and everyone cheering the atmosphere was incredible.

There was alot of media taking pictures and video’s of this event, and everyone else  was taking pictures of this amazing time too, I watched one lady jumping up and down and other people were climbing on bulidings to take pictures. Boris Johnson delivered a speech, and there were a lot of gifts given out for free such as oyster card holders, Great Britian flags and the best of all gifts was a Plastic Lottery Hand which was a big blue foam hand. There was loads of them, however I never had a chance to get one of them.  Oh well, maybe at London 2012 I can get one. I can’t wait until London 2012, and I bet others can’t either?

My work here in Beijing is now at an end, as the Paralympics prepares for the closing ceremony but for me it has started what could hopefully be a bright future.

I have only one regret about these games in Beijing and that is that they have finally ended but there is no time to waste on matters that can’t be changed. For me it is now time to fully focus on the future.

Having the opportunity to work here as a volunteer is one thing in my life I will never regret. I have so many happy memories and have seen some fascinating sports, world records, Olympic records as well as Paralympian being set and broken.

One thing I will say is that volunteers are a key factor to the Olympics running as well as they do so hopefully in London many more people will get the same or a similar opportunity as I have.

My final work shift was last night and I watched world records come and go, something a year ago I thought would never happen, it is amazing what life can throw at you.

Also my last interview was with South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius aka the “Blade runner” who for the final race of the evening smashed the World record in the men’s 400m. What a way to finish my Paralympic experience.

From here though I have one day to pack and prepare for my long journey back to England. Whilst I have been here I feel I have matured, grown as a person learnt many lessons and improved in my journalistic capacity.

Don’t get me wrong I have also had great fun, and since I have made so many Aussie friends you learn to be slightly more out going and you constantly have fun whether it be at work or on the social side of life.

I am honoured to have been at these games, it has been a dream come true, I hope to be at 2012 for London but you never know what is round the corner, all I can say is if your young enthusiastic and love sport- get yourself to the games. It truly can be life changing!

Finally I am happy after 3 months to be going home to be reunited with my family and friends. I have to also say how happy I was writing this blog for SkillsActive, I hope in some way I have helped some of you learn more about being an Olympic volunteer and tracing some of my thoughts and feelings on the subject.

Remember this if you only remember one thing:

“Volunteers represent the Olympic Spirit”

Jacques Rogge, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee

On this final note I will say goodbye and thankyou.

Hello SkillsActive,

So far during my Paralympian bout as a flash quote reporter all is going well, just like Great Britain’s medal tally. 

It is nice to see Britain doing so well not just at the Olympics but at the Paralympics especially with 2012 just around the corner, hopefully we can surpass what we have achieved here in Beijing back home in London.

Anyway volunteering here for the Paralympics at first was a proposition I entered with a small deal of pessimism. This was mainly due to friends going home and being in a foreign country for another three weeks after living here for two months already, but to be honest the experience has been well worth while.

One of the main reasons for this is because where I work in the mixed zones after events, there is less accredited media than there was at the Olympics; meaning that you get more one on one time with athletes which not only develops your interviewing skills but also increases your confidence. 

In fact only yesterday evening I interviewed Michael McKillop of Ireland who set a new world record and won Gold in the T37 800m, winning Ireland’s first Gold medal. And he is such a nice lad, I really hope he continues his success and does well in the rest of his career.

I also interviewed the women’s greatest ever athlete Chantal Petitclerc who won the women’s 100m, the first of many events for Petitclerc, who won five Gold medals in the last games at Athens. Also with this looking like her last Paralympics it makes interviewing her even more special. 

So when you are interviewing some of the worlds great Paralympians it can be a bit daunting, however they put you as a reporter at ease and are very understanding. Something that at times wasn’t the case in the Olympics whereby athletes would blank you and then close up like a clam during the interview, this has not happened here.

Now looking back on my choice to stay here I am very happy and feel I made the right decision. I am working with a great team at the Birds Nest and flash quoting at the Paralympics is so much fun, it is exciting and to be honest this experience is going to help me as much as the Olympics did.

Finally I would like to finish of by saying congratulations team GB, keep up the good work and continue to make us proud.

Will speak to you all very soon.

Hi everyone,

The Paralympics have just begun today and I start work tomorrow. As you all probably know by now I will be working at the national stadium (Birdsnest) on Paralympic Athletics. 

This weekend I finally received my Paralympics accreditation and with it I thought a free ticket to the opening ceremony, maybe not. Unfortunately for me and my four fellow British colleagues our accreditation hadn’t been given the official stamp for the opening ceremony.

So like many Chinese, British and everyone else around the world I settled for watching it in my hotel room and enjoyed every minute of it. I can’t wait to start interviewing the athletes, the sooner the better!

Today I paid a visit along with colleagues to the Birdsnest to pick up our Paralympics uniform, which was quite amusing. Originally on my uniform request form I asked for a large shirt size and large trousers because the Chinese sizes are smaller than western clothing. Today I was surprised to find one medium, one large and one extra large shirt in my uniform bag and again similar problems with my trousers. The best though was my Jacket. I got a whopping 3XL which could fit me and at least one more person in, it was quite funny at the time.

I don’t mind though I am working eight days at these games and it doesn’t matter what I am wearing so long as I am down at the field of play or in the mixed zone.

Until this afternoon my mood for the Paralympics was somewhat lessoned because of my Olympic experience being so good. But now with new colleagues, new challenges such as new sports to report on, my ambition and my journalistic juices are working overtime.

 Really looking forward to working, watching and being part of these Paralympic games but when they finish I have only one day left in Beijing. I will miss this place when I’m home but I will take away so many memories, life experiences and so many new friends who I will know for years to come. Again I reiterate these Olympics have given me so many new horizons and I recommend it for many people come 2012.

I’ll speak to you all soon.

David